Woman struck by falling debris on Cork's St Patrick's St

A woman had a lucky escape on her way to work on Thursday morning after she was struck by falling masonry from a building on St Patrick's Street.

A small amount of debris fell from the former Moderne building, now the Superdry clothes shop. It is understood that part of a second floor window frame fell into the street below.

Niamh Hegarty was walking through the city on her way to work and was struck by the debris, suffering neck and back injuries. She was helped by passers-by before being brought by ambulance to the Mercy Hospital but was discharged a short time later.

It is understood that her backpack with her laptop took the brunt of the impact.

Her mother Debbie said that she has been discharged and that she was "very fortunate" to escape a major injury.

Four units of Cork city's fire brigade and members of the gardaí attended the scene, cordoning off the footpath for a number of hours in the morning to ensure that the building is safe. They had left the scene by 2pm.

It is the second such issue in Cork city in recent months. In June, the partial collapse of a building on North Main Street saw the road temporarily blocked to traffic while safety precautions were put in place.

Works to stabilise the buildings on North Main Street took place in July and the road has been fully open to traffic since.